Current TV, a peer-to-peer news and information network, ran this take on the marketing on yogurt on May 9, 2008. Within weeks, the story went viral. I track yogurt in the news and on the Internet through a Google Alert, and the story popped Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. After a friend forwarded me the story, I felt it my duty to share it with you all.
I'd like to think I'm above the fray because I haven't tried Activia (though just typing the word makes my brain sing Ac-tiv-iaaaaa like they do in their commercials) and you won't find Dannon or Yoplait in my fridge. Alas, I do wear sweats and a gray hoodie while I eat yogurt, but at least I don't have a Masters!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I Finally Met a Yogurt I Didn't Like
Since the start of YoBlog, I have had the opportunity to connect with others who share an affection for the sweet yet tangy treat. Some are new acquaintances - like Giselle, one of the most friendly and efficient check-out artists at Whole Foods, who is also a yogurt admirer. Many are old friends - like Damien who shares my fondness for the flavor maple. And a few are family.
A Family Affair
Yogurt is one of my mother-in-law Bonnie's favorite foods. So, when we trekked out to her house to celebrate Mother's Day, YoBlog was forefront in my thoughts.
You need to understand that Bonnie is a creative, venturous, and skilled chef. Enthusiasm coupled with culinary curiosity and an innovative spirit inspire Bonnie to create her favorite foods. She's not satisfied to have samosas in India or empanadas in Latin America. She wants to have them in her own kitchen, at her own table. Yogurt is no exception.
Eager to tell Bonnie about the blog and suggest an article on her homemade yogurt technique, I brought up YoBlog immediately. As Bonnie and I talked about all the possibilities, she mentioned an attempt at homemade yogurt made earlier in the week.
She opened the refrigerator, pulled out a 32-ounce container, and removed the lid, revealing a mountain of yogurt made from goat's milk. Apparently, Bonnie had to add gelatin to the yogurt after it didn't congeal properly with rennet. So the texture was weird: think yogurt meets Jell-O. The taste, though, was intriguing. Extremely tart and sour, the yogurt had a hint of sweetness similar to goat cheese.
Go Go Goat Yogurt
This reminded me of Redwood Hill Farm, a California farm and creamery that produces goat cheese and yogurt. Inspired by Bonnie's experiment, I picked up their plain and strawberry yogurts at the Whole Foods, each $1.99. Vanilla is also available, as well as blueberry, cranberry-orange, and apricot-mango.
I chose to start with the plain. I approached it with interest and skepticism. The yogurt had the typical tangy smell and its texture smoothed as I stirred the yogurt. Much thinner than skyr or Greek yogurt, the yogurt ran off my spoon some. As I brought the spoon to my mouth, I expected a creamy balance between tart and sour and sweet.
My immediate thought: yuck.
The taste: goat cheese gone bad. Why I was surprised is a mystery. The tang that makes yogurt yogurt is in other foods the striking sign of spoil. Add the tang of yogurt to goat cheese and rancid is the word that comes to my mind. Actually, yuck was the word:
After two or three spoonfuls, I threw the cup of plain away.
A Second Chance
Since America is the land of second chances, I decided to give the strawberry a try, after I drank two or three cups of water to cleanse my pallet.
Like the plain, the strawberry had the typical scent and texture of yogurt. The fruit was on the bottom; I swirled the strawberries and sweet goo into the yogurt, and their sugariness shone through and mitigated some of the tang.
My first spoonful of the strawberry was better than the plain. The berries competed with the taste of cheese in the yogurt for the attention of my taste buds.
The sweet goo reminded me of the Smucker's-like stuff you find at the bottom of many yogurts. I took a look at the ingredients. Next to Siggi's, no awards for simplicity here: honey, strawberries, water, apple juice concentrate, natural flavors, pectin, locust bean gum, vegetable juice, and citric acid.
In a way, the strawberry was like a goat cheese dessert with berries and honey. I wanted to like it and I almost did. Ultimately, though, sweetness is no mask for a funky and offensive taste. I ate about half of the strawberry.
Cut the Cheese
So, I finally found a yogurt I didn't like. That said, if you like your yogurt cheesy, I recommend you try the goat yogurt from Redwood Hill Farm. Let us know what you think!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Siggi's Skyr: Worth Every Penny
$2.69!
Who would ever pay $2.69 for a few ounces of yogurt. Fucking Whole Foods. Who do they think they are? $2.69 for yogurt.
A few weeks later ...
$2.69! Who would ever pay $2.69 for a few ounces of yogurt. Fuck. That must be good yogurt.
A few weeks later ...
$2.69! Fine, I'll try it. Just once. Just to try it.
Later that day ...
Damn, this yogurt is awesome! I'll have to try all the flavors!
Siggi's Skyr is a lesson in marketing and its power as well as damn delicious yogurt. I'll focus on the latter and leave the former to mass comm majors.
The Skinny on Skyr
Adam Roberts of the Amateur Gourmet tells the story of Siggi, a financial analyst turned skyr-entrepreneur, and Siggi's Skyr after interviewing Siggi in his New York apartment and enjoying an evening of skyr smoothies and Icelandic schnapps. I encourage you to read the article on Amateur Gourmet, though I will include this tid-bit as encouragement to follow your yogurt dreams:
Bragðgóður: Icelandic for Tasty
The first thing that strikes you about Siggi's Skyr is the color. Usually blueberry yogurt is a swirl of royal blue and electric purple. Passion fruit a spectrum of coral to neon pink. I am afraid to think what Yoplait would do with ginger for color. Siggi's, on the other hand, is free of food coloring. The blueberry is a pleasant pinkish purple, the passion fruit is simply off-white, and the orange ginger has just a tint of canary color.
Who would ever pay $2.69 for a few ounces of yogurt. Fucking Whole Foods. Who do they think they are? $2.69 for yogurt.
A few weeks later ...
$2.69! Who would ever pay $2.69 for a few ounces of yogurt. Fuck. That must be good yogurt.
A few weeks later ...
$2.69! Fine, I'll try it. Just once. Just to try it.
Later that day ...
Damn, this yogurt is awesome! I'll have to try all the flavors!
Siggi's Skyr is a lesson in marketing and its power as well as damn delicious yogurt. I'll focus on the latter and leave the former to mass comm majors.
The Skinny on Skyr
Skyr is Icelandic yogurt. Typical to Icelandic cuisine, skyr is a lean protein source: low in calories and fat, but high in protein. Made from skim milk, live cultures, and rennet, skyr is simple and simply delicious. Agave nectar is the traditional skyr sweetener.
Adam Roberts of the Amateur Gourmet tells the story of Siggi, a financial analyst turned skyr-entrepreneur, and Siggi's Skyr after interviewing Siggi in his New York apartment and enjoying an evening of skyr smoothies and Icelandic schnapps. I encourage you to read the article on Amateur Gourmet, though I will include this tid-bit as encouragement to follow your yogurt dreams:
There are five flavors of Siggi's Skyr: plain, blueberry, pomegranate and passion fruit, orange and ginger, and pear and mint. This weekend, when I went to the Whole Foods (the only store in Chicago to carry Siggi's), I only found blueberry, pomegranate and passion fruit, and orange and ginger.Eventually, I asked Siggi how he got into this business.
"I was working in finance and I wasn't very happy," he told me. "So I started making yogurt at home."
"Did your roommates think that was weird?"
"They did," he said, "Though they're used to me making a mess in the kitchen."
Unfortunately, Siggi's attempts to make skyr at home didn't really work. "The conditions weren't right," he explained. "You need a very specific temperature for the skyr to come together."
Eventually, Siggi had an opportunity to make skyr on a dairy farm upstate. "We went up there and got to work and before we knew it we had skyr. We made so much of it that when I came back I didn't know what to do with it all."
He gave it away to friends in jars and one of these friends gave it to someone at Murray's cheese who, in turn, gave it to the buyers there. "They tasted it and they loved it and eventually they got back to me and told me that if I wanted to produce my skyr, they would buy it."
And that's exactly what happened; Siggi was in business. First, he sold to Murray's and then soon Dean & Deluca and Eli's wanted it too. Finally, the big kahuna--Whole Foods--ordered Siggi's skyr too.
"Now you can get it at Whole Foods all along the east coast and west as far as Nebraska."
Bragðgóður: Icelandic for Tasty
The first thing that strikes you about Siggi's Skyr is the color. Usually blueberry yogurt is a swirl of royal blue and electric purple. Passion fruit a spectrum of coral to neon pink. I am afraid to think what Yoplait would do with ginger for color. Siggi's, on the other hand, is free of food coloring. The blueberry is a pleasant pinkish purple, the passion fruit is simply off-white, and the orange ginger has just a tint of canary color.
Artificial coloring isn't the only thing missing from Siggi's Skyr. Siggi's is sans aspartame, sucralose, high fructose corn syrup, gelatin, preservatives, and rBGH. The rennet Siggi uses is vegetable-based, so Siggi's is suitable for all vegetarians (except vegans).
Siggi started making skyr in the States because he found our yogurt to be too sweet. A natural, tasty, and subtle balance between the tang of yogurt and the sweetness of fruit and agave nectar is what makes Siggi's Skyr unique and enjoyable.
Ultimately, though, Siggi's Skyr is more about the tang of yogurt than the flavor of fruit. Siggi's is a yogurt-lover's yogurt, for those of us that appreciate the tart smack and thick yet soft texture of a glob of yogurt.
Yet, the richness and decadence of Siggi's make it appealing to the masses of more spontaneous and casual yogurt-eaters too. The pomegranate and passion fruit skyr is my recommendation for seekers of a "vanilla" yogurt experience.
Yogurt with Attitude
Of the three Siggi's Skyr types I tried, the orange ginger is the best in my book. Let me be clear, I am not a ginger aficionado. I am a yogurt aficionado. I know there are people that feel for ginger the way I feel for yogurt, but I am not one of them.
That said, what strikes me about the orange ginger skyr is its character. This is a yogurt with personality and charisma, if that is possible. You want to like this yogurt: not because it's pleasant or safe, but because it's distinctive and interesting. The scent compliments the taste perfectly, hinting at the balance between flavors that is the highlight of Siggi's Skyr.
And oh my goodness, the ginger! Ginger ain't my thing, but the chunks of ginger in Siggi's intrigued me; not huge, hulking chunks of ginger, but a smattering of little but visible specks. See:
What a treat! In the end, the stasis that Siggi creates with the spice of ginger, the citrus of orange, the succulence of agave, and the sour of yogurt is a masterpiece.
While orange ginger stands strongly on its own, I envision it as a base for fabulous creations like skyr smoothies with bananas and pineapple or a pita dip with chopped cilantro stirred in.
Experience Skyr for Yourself
The market for Siggi's Skyr is spreading in the States. Siggi's is available at fine food outlets throughout the state of New York like Zabar's and Dean and Deluca. On the East Coast and in the Midwest, Whole Foods is the only store to stock Siggi's. Whether Siggi's Skyr is available in Whole Foods on the West Coast is uncertain. (Finally, a reason for Californians to visit Chicago!)
Wherever you live, I hope you encounter Siggi's Skyr on your yogurt quest. Please share stories about this unique, tasty, and healthy treat with our readers!
P.S. Siggi is seeking summer yogurt interns in New York.
Siggi started making skyr in the States because he found our yogurt to be too sweet. A natural, tasty, and subtle balance between the tang of yogurt and the sweetness of fruit and agave nectar is what makes Siggi's Skyr unique and enjoyable.
Ultimately, though, Siggi's Skyr is more about the tang of yogurt than the flavor of fruit. Siggi's is a yogurt-lover's yogurt, for those of us that appreciate the tart smack and thick yet soft texture of a glob of yogurt.
Yet, the richness and decadence of Siggi's make it appealing to the masses of more spontaneous and casual yogurt-eaters too. The pomegranate and passion fruit skyr is my recommendation for seekers of a "vanilla" yogurt experience.
Yogurt with Attitude
Of the three Siggi's Skyr types I tried, the orange ginger is the best in my book. Let me be clear, I am not a ginger aficionado. I am a yogurt aficionado. I know there are people that feel for ginger the way I feel for yogurt, but I am not one of them.
That said, what strikes me about the orange ginger skyr is its character. This is a yogurt with personality and charisma, if that is possible. You want to like this yogurt: not because it's pleasant or safe, but because it's distinctive and interesting. The scent compliments the taste perfectly, hinting at the balance between flavors that is the highlight of Siggi's Skyr.
And oh my goodness, the ginger! Ginger ain't my thing, but the chunks of ginger in Siggi's intrigued me; not huge, hulking chunks of ginger, but a smattering of little but visible specks. See:
What a treat! In the end, the stasis that Siggi creates with the spice of ginger, the citrus of orange, the succulence of agave, and the sour of yogurt is a masterpiece.
While orange ginger stands strongly on its own, I envision it as a base for fabulous creations like skyr smoothies with bananas and pineapple or a pita dip with chopped cilantro stirred in.
Experience Skyr for Yourself
The market for Siggi's Skyr is spreading in the States. Siggi's is available at fine food outlets throughout the state of New York like Zabar's and Dean and Deluca. On the East Coast and in the Midwest, Whole Foods is the only store to stock Siggi's. Whether Siggi's Skyr is available in Whole Foods on the West Coast is uncertain. (Finally, a reason for Californians to visit Chicago!)
Wherever you live, I hope you encounter Siggi's Skyr on your yogurt quest. Please share stories about this unique, tasty, and healthy treat with our readers!
P.S. Siggi is seeking summer yogurt interns in New York.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Are You a Yogurt Aficionado?
What comes to mind when you hear aficionado?
What pursuits are worthy of devoted followings?
Fine-dining and all that it entails in luxury and pretense? Restaurants with names like "Schwa" and their menus of "pureed brioche, prosciutto consommé, and quail egg ravioli." Cigars: Montecristos, Diplomaticos, and Cohibas; terms of art to describe color, shape, and flavor; and thousands of lay enthusiasts? Neckties? (For men who love to wear silk ties and have found "there is no other feeling other than wearing a new silk necktie.")
On Yogurt
Can one be a devotee of something as simple, humble, and ubiquitous as yogurt? Does yogurt measure up to the likes of Schwa, Cohibas, and the little black tie? I say it does. This modest, unassuming food is just as deserving of aficionados.
If you too are a yogurt enthusiast, please join me in my yogurt quest.
What pursuits are worthy of devoted followings?
Fine-dining and all that it entails in luxury and pretense? Restaurants with names like "Schwa" and their menus of "pureed brioche, prosciutto consommé, and quail egg ravioli." Cigars: Montecristos, Diplomaticos, and Cohibas; terms of art to describe color, shape, and flavor; and thousands of lay enthusiasts? Neckties? (For men who love to wear silk ties and have found "there is no other feeling other than wearing a new silk necktie.")
On Yogurt
Can one be a devotee of something as simple, humble, and ubiquitous as yogurt? Does yogurt measure up to the likes of Schwa, Cohibas, and the little black tie? I say it does. This modest, unassuming food is just as deserving of aficionados.
If you too are a yogurt enthusiast, please join me in my yogurt quest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
